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Effects of Vitamin B₁₂ on the Weights of Certain Organs in the Rat

Animal Husbandry Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland

Comparisons were made between the tissue weight-to-body weight ratios of certain organs in vitamin B₁₂-deficient and vitamin B₁₂-sufficient littermate pairs of rats under both ad libitum and paired feeding conditions. Seminal vesicles, ovaries and uteri were smaller in young vitamin B₁₂-deficient animals, even when their vitamin B₁₂-supplemented littermates were limited to the same food intake and made the same weight gains. Mature males did not exhibit a significant difference in seminal vesicle weight. Thus the effect of the vitamin B₁₂-deficiency was to delay the maturation of the secondary sex glands rather than to prevent the eventual growth of these tissues to maturity. Enlarged thyroid glands were observed in the deficient animals, whether fed ad libitum or pair-fed. Renal and hepatic weights were also greater in such rats. The testes, the adrenals, and the heart were heavier in the deficient animals but only under ad libitum feeding conditions. No consistent differences were observed in the weights of the pituitary gland or of the spleen. No difference was observed between vitamin B₁₂-deficient and supplemented animals in their response to stilbestrol as measured by uterine weights.